1997 Sugar Bowl

1997 Nokia Sugar Bowl
1997 Nokia Sugar Bowl
National Championship Game
Florida Gators	Florida State Seminoles
(11–1)	(11–0)
SEC	ACC
52	20
Head coach: ; Steve Spurrier	Head coach: ; Bobby Bowden
Date	January 2, 1997
Season	1996
Stadium	Louisiana Superdome
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP	Danny Wuerffel (QB, Florida)
Favorite	Florida by 3.5 points (54.5)
Referee	Randy Christal (Big 12)
Attendance	78,344
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC
Announcers	Keith Jackson (play-by-play); Bob Griese (analyst); Lynn Swann (sideline)
Sugar Bowl
< 1995 (Dec)	1998 >
Bowl Alliance; National Championship Game
< 1996	1998 >

The 1997 Nokia Sugar Bowl was the 63rd edition to the annual Sugar Bowl game and served as the Bowl Alliance's designated national championship game for the 1996 season. It matched No. 1 Florida State of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) against No. 3 Florida of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Florida defeated Florida State in convincing fashion, with a final score of 52–20, and with the victory earned its first-ever consensus national championship. This was the only National Championship game to feature two teams from the same state.

Teams[]

The game was a bowl rematch of a regular season game, as Florida State had defeated Florida, 24–21, in a game played in Tallahassee on November 30.

Third-ranked Florida was invited to the designated national championship game because the Pac-10 champion was contractually obligated to play in the Rose Bowl Game, and unavailable to participate in the Bowl Alliance. As a result, second-ranked Arizona State, the Pac-10 champion, played the Big Ten champion, fourth-ranked Ohio State, in the 1997 Rose Bowl. When Ohio State defeated Arizona State in the Rose Bowl on January 1, the Sugar Bowl winner was all but assured of being named the consensus national champion.

Florida Gators[]

The Gators were led by their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Danny Wuerffel. They completed their regular season schedule with a 10–1 record, then defeated No. 11 Alabama in the 1996 SEC Championship Game.

Florida State Seminoles[]

Top-ranked Florida State entered the bowl with an undefeated 11–0 record, led by quarterback Thad Busby and running back Warrick Dunn.

Game summary[]

After a halftime score of 24–17 in favor of Florida, Florida State closed to 24–20 with a third quarter field goal. Florida then outscored Florida State 28–0 for the remainder of the game, for a 52–20 final. Gator quarterback Danny Wuerffel threw three touchdown passes to Ike Hilliard in the game, and ran for another score. Wuerffel became the second Heisman Trophy winner in four years to win a national championship, following Charlie Ward of the 1993 Florida State team.

Scoring summary[]

First quarter

Florida: TD Ike Hilliard 9 pass from Danny Wuerffel (Bart Edmiston kick) 9:48

Florida 7–0

FSU: FG Scott Bentley 43 7:49

Florida 7–3

Florida: FG Bart Edmiston 32 2:44

Florida 10–3

Second quarter

Florida: TD Fred Taylor 2 run (Bart Edmiston kick) 11:28

Florida 17–3

FSU: TD E.G. Green 29 pass from Thad Busby (Bentley kick) 7:28

Florida 17–10

Florida: TD Ike Hilliard 31 pass from Danny Wuerffel (Bart Edmiston kick) 5:18

Florida 24–10

FSU: TD Warrick Dunn 12 run (Scott Bentley kick) 0:40

Florida 24–17

Third quarter

FSU: FG Scott Bentley 45 10:24

Florida 24–20

Florida: TD Ike Hilliard 7 pass from Danny Wuerffel (Bart Edmiston kick) 5:43

Florida 31–20

Florida: TD Danny Wuerffel 16 run (Bart Edmiston kick) 0:13

Florida 38–20

Fourth quarter

Florida: TD Terry Jackson 42 run (Bart Edmiston kick) 8:52

Florida 45–20

Florida: TD Terry Jackson 1 run (Bart Edmiston kick) 2:12

Florida 52–20

Source:^[3]

References[]

^ "Orange Bowl Odds".
^ "Betting line". Orange Bowl Odds. p. D7.
^ "1997 Game Recap / Allstate Sugar Bowl". Archived from the original on 2010-01-16.

[latln-1] "Orange Bowl Odds".

[betln-2] "Betting line". Orange Bowl Odds. p. D7.

[3] "1997 Game Recap / Allstate Sugar Bowl". Archived from the original on 2010-01-16.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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History & conference tie-ins	History Tulane Stadium Georgia Dome Caesars Superdome College Football Playoff Broadcasters Southeastern Conference Big 12 Conference
Games	1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 (Jan) 1972 (Dec) 1973 1974 1975 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 (Jan) 1995 (Dec) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Notes	The 2006 game took place in Atlanta, Georgia due to Hurricane Katrina. The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004. There was a Sugar Bowl in January and December in 1972 and 1995. The game was a College Football Playoff semifinal in its 2015 and 2018 editions.